France vs. Australia: A look at the numbers

Australian head coach Eddie Jones is still looking for his first win as Wallabies head coach after taking the reigns in January earlier this year. The Wallabies were soundly beaten 41-17 by France at the Stade de France, as the Australians continue to remain winless in 2023.

In a game where the French backline was the difference, fly-half Matthieu Jalibert lead the numbers in metres gained, attaining an exceptional 100m off seven carries. 

Mark Nawaqanitawa was second on the list, only two metre shy of Jalibert's 100m mark, closely followed by Wallaby wingeer Suilasi Vunivalu who ended on 97m off 13 carries. 

French right-winger Damian Penaud beat six defenders on the day, twice as many as teammate Jalibert and Vanivalu who beat three defenders respectively.

Penaud again led the the stats with line breaks, securing four line breaks, one more ahead of Vunivalu who had a stellar game completing 3 line breaks, one ahead of French outside centre Gael Fickou.

Unsurprsingly, Vunivalu lead the numbers in carries, alongside teamate and prop Angus Bell with a respective 13 carries a piece, one better than Penaud.

The Australian winger was not done however, as he bagged the most offloads on the night, completing three, one better than Penaud who ended on two, equal to Nawaqanitawa and Les Bleus fullback Thomas Ramos.

French blindside flanker Francois Cros was the workhorse of the day, leading the pack with his 18 tackles, 8 clear of teammates Gregory Alldritt and Charles Ollivon, who tied with Australia's Fraser McReight on ten tackles a piece. 

The fixture wrapped all the warm-up games before the world cup, all thats left to say is, "All abaord, we're going to France."